149th anniversary of the re-ride this year



Ron and Kathy Atkinson are members of the National Pony Express Association. Kathy Atkinson said she has been a member for the past 15 years and her husband, Ron, has been a member for 28 years. He is also the Uinta County Ride Captain.

Atkinson said the National Pony Express Association establishes a re-ride each year along the old pony express route between St. Joseph, Mo. and Sacramento, Calif.

“We carry real mail, just like they did in 1860, in a mochila. People can send mail that we’ll deliver. The cost is $5 per letter. That is what it cost back then when people sent mail by Pony Express,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said the mail had a 10-day guarantee delivery schedule. She said the re-ride does the run in the same time frame.

Atkinson said her husband’s great-great-grandfather, Richard Eagan, was an original Pony Express rider in Utah.

She said Eagan’s father was the oldest Pony Express rider at the age of 45 years old and only rode occasionally to fill in for one of the original riders if they couldn’t ride. He blazed some of the trail, driving a stagecoach route that was part of the trail.

Atkinson said Ron’s grandmother told a story about her grandfather when he was a Pony Express rider.

“She said he came over the hill and there were Native Americans waiting there. He didn’t know what to do, so he took out his false teeth and started chomping them together in his hand. He ran at the Indians and they were frightened and ran away,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said, for the re-ride, they pick the mail up in Granger at the eastern Uinta County line.

“The mochila fits over the saddle. It has pockets in it and the mail is in those pockets,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said 34 riders are from Uinta County, the largest number they’ve ever had.

“There are five ride captains in Wyoming. Uinta County has one of the longest ride times. Each rider will go for two miles, then pass the mail to someone else. Some of the riders will do more than one two-mile ride,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said that they have eight hours to get the mail across Uinta County — an 82-mile stretch.

Atkinson said she really enjoys participating in the experience of re-creating the 1,966-mile ride that is an important part of American history.

“It is exhilarating. It is wonderful to see the mail coming. You just get so excited. The past few years, they have a GPS system that fits in one of the mail pockets. You can get on the Internet and find out exactly where the mail is at all times. You can see how fast you made your two-mile mail run. Most of the ladies gallop and many of the men run real fast. Everybody goes at their own speed,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson said she believes the Pony Express will come through Evanston around 7 p.m. on Sunday. She said they would come in from Sulpher Creek to Highway 150 south to City View Drive. From there, she said the route goes past Uinta Meadows school and left on Yellow Creek and keeps going to the Utah line.



For the complete article see the 06-12-2009 issue.

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